Traumatika - FrightFest World Premiere Review
Director: Pierre Tsigaridis
Starring: Rebekah Kennedy, Ranen Navat, Emily Goss, Susan Gayle Watts, Sean O'Bryan, Sean Whalen
Written by: Pierre Tsigaridis, Maxime Rancon
Produced by: Maxime Rancon, Pierre Tsigaridis
Cinematography by: Pierre Tsigaridis
Original Score by: Gioacchino Marincola
Synopsis:
Mikey’s night terrors become reality when his mother begins showing signs of demonic possession. What he’s about to experience will haunt him for the rest of his life and claim countless lives across generations.
Thoughts:
I enjoyed Pierre Tsigaridis' previous film 'Two Witches' so when I heard that his latest film was going to have its World Premiere at this year's FrightFest I knew I had to seek it out. 'Traumatika' follows the trend of intense jump scares, hellish sensory sequences and visceral imagery. Bring a spare pair of pants!
An ancient African artefact falls into the hands of John, a middle aged man going through a rough divorce, and despite being warned by his friend not to open it, John does in fact ignore those pleas and opens it anyway. The artefact is said to contain a demon that possesses human beings and is particularly interested in children.
The film definitely lives up to it's name. It's deeply unsettling and explores domestic sexual abuse (of the incestuous kind) and uses the possibility of demonic possession as a metaphor for what a lot of young woman are forced to go through and subsequently forced to live with in the aftermath of such a traumatic abusive event. Rebekah Kennedy stars as Abigail, the young woman in question, who is raped and impregnated by her father John and forced to keep it a secret. Abigail performs a DIY abortion and John isn't happy about that at all. After she aborts her baby she is (once again) forced to believe that she must deliver a child, even if it is not hers, so she begins to lure little boys.
It's often the case that a lot of victims tend to feel an overwhelming guilt after being abused because their depressive mindset lies to them and makes them think that it was somehow their fault. Tsigaridis shows this through the use of Abigail's demonic possession by her father who seems to be working on behalf of something more sinister. Possession is having your body forcibly taken over by a powerful entity. You can see the connection here.
Kennedy was a stand out in Tsigaridis' previous film and it's the same here too. Without any intention of offending, she has a "strange" face, one that can contort on command and she uses it to perfection, firstly during her abuse and then later when she is "possessed". Her eyes are incredibly evil.
Although it's not found footage, Tsigaridis does employ a lot of found footage style shots and techniques to help cultivate a hauntingly, creepy atmosphere. There's long sequences that feel like they're lifted straight out of a horror video game with soft torch-lit POV shots scouring around dark rooms and corridors. The sound design and score are chilling.
One thing's for sure, Tsigaridis doesn't lack any ambition in his storytelling and he certainly has a knack for scaring his audience, although I'm not convinced that the structure of the film was the way to go. The story is convoluted enough but becomes even more so by its complex format. The second half of the film jumps 20 years to a point where Abigail's little sister Alice is telling her story and this is where we find out a bit more about what actually happened. I quite liked some of the use of news footage to help piece together the story but I think it would've worked a bit better if it had been edited throughout the film rather than dropping it all in one long segment.
'Traumatika' has some terrifying scenes and images that might linger long after the film fades to black but at it's core its a film about the deeply tortuous and lasting effect that childhood trauma has on a person. An intriguing take but I found it just sadly too muddled to be truly effective.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️½
-Gavin Logan
'Traumatika' received its World Premiere at FrightFest '24 on August 24th
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